What If I Can't Build What I Want On My Lot?

Does The Addition Add Up?

My previous blog entry revisited ADU structures that might be desired by a property owner to provide more space for family members, rental income or any other number of reasons. I suggested doing some footwork to make sure that a fully autonomous structure was valid in one’s location. Now I want to examine what steps you might take if you find that the detached structure you wanted to build isn’t allowable for some reason.

Different Goals, Different Solutions

First of all, your response will depend a lot on what your goals are. If you want more space to allow for a craft space, a workshop, room for guests or kids or other family members, perhaps a simple addition would be adequate. Additions have their own set of compliance issues, but they are typically at least somewhat less than building a whole new detached structure and might solve all your needs with less fuss. Tasteful additions that meet your aesthetic and other requirements should be easy enough to obtain.

Can an Addition Increase Your Bottom Line?

What if your real wish in considering an ADU is to achieve potential rental income? I’ll dedicate much more space to this issue since most of what drives people to invest in ADU’s is the desire for additional income. Can you have an addition or remodel fulfill that need? The town just north of us has a lot of homes featuring “suites” that are of the same structure, but separate in terms of having their own kitchen, bath, entrance, etc. Despite there not being a separate dwelling unit on the site, these homes are essentially two units and one is fully rented out.

An addition could potentially meet this demand while also meeting zoning or building department requirements that prohibit a fully detached unit. That’s something to look into and verify, because the opposite could also be true. An addition meant to serve as a rental will have its own set of issues to conform to, but those might be easier to meet.

When doing due diligence, some things to consider would again be fire safety and compliance, parking or driveway issues (provision of parking for a guest or tenant), connection or splitting of utilities should be investigated, and your building department might even have things to say about which way the main entrance to the unit faces (seriously, you should look into that…it could be the case). Rules vary by jurisdiction (some locations don’t even have building codes!) so they should be explored fully prior to beginning a project (ideally before you even start getting your heart set or your finances structured on a particular renovation!). You might also want to check with zoning to be sure a rental is feasible and allowed. If you belong to a neighborhood association that would also be a group to contact to be sure you keep good relations with your neighbors!

A home renovation, build, addition or side yard cottage are all things that people undertake or consider at different times and for differing reasons. Being clear on what you want to accomplish and knowing how flexible you are, personally, for achieving your goals can help you ask the right questions in advance and make your building process more straightforward and less stressful. Do some homework and consider your options. Remaining open to flexible solutions can help you avoid the sense that building departments and others with lots of rules and regulations exist solely (or mostly) to thwart your desires!

Privacy Please

Most of us are pretty creative and imaginative, and you can create an addition or remodel that supports your wishes in terms of outcomes while also satisfying aesthetic considerations. Privacy is an issue that needs a bit more investigation. If you are thinking of using an addition to your home to generate income, that will involve some consideration on your part . Just off the top of my head, if I were to build a rental space into my home, I’d seek to find ways to mimic full autonomy, by creating separate pathways, entrances and outdoor spaces and perhaps use natural or manmade screening devices, etc. that would allow both tenant and homeowner to keep their privacy intact as much as possible. I would also consider ways to more fully soundproof a home or the addition, at the very least, in order to keep noise transfer between units to a minimum. Much can be achieved with extra insulation (acoustic panels could be a great investment) and creative landscape work and while perhaps an additional expense, should pay back in terms of comfort for many years to come.

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Things to Research Before Planning on an ADU

Doing Your Homework Saves Headaches Down the Road

People decide to expand their homes in all sorts of ways and for all sorts of reasons. These reasons can really change over time as trends and current realities influence one another and us with some fluidity. A short time ago I offered some ideas about ADU’s and DADU’s (Accessory Dwelling Units and Detached Accessory Dwelling Units). ADU and DADU projects can offer a number of resource options, from providing extra room for family to providing a potential source of rental income.

Building a whole new house on the same lot as your home comes with certain restrictions and requirements, and you should familiarize yourself with these things as much as possible before undertaking the project. I thought I’d share some potential areas to explore in advance.

This won’t be an exhaustive list of circumstances to be sure - any number of unique situations can (and do) crop up in a given location but here are some issues that we’ve heard people contend with unexpectedly or that have given them pause for thought.

Fire Safety First

If you are living on a small urban lot or other population dense area it is highly likely that your building code will require you to maintain distance between your primary structure and the new ADU that allows for fire codes to be met and discourages the ability of a house fire to spread easily from house to house. If your setbacks only allow a build in a narrow area of your side yard or backyard, you will want to be certain that the ADU you are designing will not cross those setbacks or, if it does, that you can mitigate for proximity by incorporating fireproof materials into your building in a manner that satisfies the code. This might include nixing windows on one side or using rated fire materials on certain exterior walls of the building. This can be straightforward or complex to achieve - but in my opinion, all problems are easier to troubleshoot ahead of time than half way through the design or permitting process. Some research with your local building departments can be very helpful when it comes to design and feasibility.

Your local fire code may also have things to say regarding parking and emergency crew access to your home(s) so it would be worth finding out if your adding a structure to your property will in any way affect parking, driveway or turnaround requirements with them as well.

Mind The Gap…But Not Too Much!

Another big thing to concern yourself with in terms of adding a structure to your lot is that your proposal be mindful of all required setbacks…these setbacks are sometimes obvious, as in maintaining proper distances from property lines. But you might also want to check in with your local building department to verify whether there are specific rules in terms of allowable distance from the existing house on your property. In our county, for example, ADU’s are required to be within a particular distance (10 feet) from the main home, and there are other potentially restrictive requirements must be met as well before permitting. That’s something else to check out with your local jurisdiction.

It would also be advisable to verify with all utility providers that the proposed structure can be fully serviced and will not interfere with existing service provisions. Knowing which side of the house you’d like the utilities to enter and exit would be helpful to have in mind ahead of time - or finding out if connections need to be made at a standardized location (eg: east wall, front wall or same side as existing dwelling, etc) per your utility’s policies. Calling your water, sewer and electric or gas utilities could potentially save you a headache down the road and help you with your design and layout process.

Stay in the Zone

Some building departments are completely separate from their counterparts in zoning. The rules of both must be satisfied. These hands sometimes don’t shake as seamlessly as you’d expect. Be sure to find out ahead of time if you are meeting local zoning requirements when undertaking a design. For example…a building department might find nothing structurally problematic with your 22 foot high ADU submission, but your local zoning department might only allow a 17 foot high structure in a given neighborhood. That could be the case even if the main dwelling is 25 feet high! This is just an example, but what I mean to say is: Assume nothing. Check with everyone and you will be properly educated about the process and can make your experience much less likely to elicit stress.

So there it is in a non exhaustive nutshell. Most of what you want to determine ahead of time for a backyard cottage, mother in law suite, ADU or DADU overlaps with the footwork you’d need to do to obtain a building permit on an empty lot. But if you’ve never built from scratch, that might be new territory. And what is certainly potentially new territory for any addition to a single lot is that the rules are likely at least a bit different than for a brand new build. Rather than being scared off, take the time to ask questions from the right departments. It can be incredibly helpful.

Is There Any Other Way?

Next week I’ll explore another option (building on an addition) for those wanting to expand their footprint even if it seems preferable or if some local requirements can’t be met in your proposed detached unit.

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